This report draws on the first 18 months of KNOCA’s work, offering an overview of what we can learn from the recent wave of climate assemblies (particularly at national level) and what work needs to be done to improve their impact. The report places climate assemblies within the broader field of public participation, explaining how they can make valuable contributions to climate policy and governance.
The report explains the valuable contribution assemblies can make to climate policy and governance, along with examples of impacts on policy, institutions, public debate and assembly members.
A striking finding is the way that the impact of climate assemblies has varied widely because of the different ways climate assemblies have been organised and integrated into the political system.
Often public officials who have organised climate assemblies speak about how challenging and difficult a process it can be, but always when asked say that they would happily do it again – learning from their mistakes of course!
The report is open about where current practice can be improved, not least in relation to definition of an appropriate remit, transparancy and communication, scepticism amongst climate governance actors, and integration in the political system.
The report ends with a summary of the work KNOCA will develop over the coming year to ensure that future assemblies are designed with impact.
KNOCA intends to update the report at regular intervals to capture new developments and learnings and would be delighted to receive feedback at info@knoca.eu.
Watch Graham Smith present the report at our Annual Event in June 2023 from the link below.
